Born in Bedford County, Tennessee, Mitchell Henderson McCuistion (1828-1897) moved with his family to Lamar County, Texas, at age ten. He farmed and served as a tax assessor and collector for the county until enlisting in Company K, Ninth Texas Infantry of the Confederate Army in 1862. Notably, McCuistion participated in the Siege of Vickburg, the Battle of Chickamauga and the Atlanta and Nashville campaigns before surrendering in 1865. After the war, McCuistion returned to Lamar County, where his wife had died in 1862, and remarried the widowed Nancy (Holbrook) Moore, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. While continuing to farm, McCuistion became a leader in local politics, winning a seat in the Fourteen and Fifteenth Texas Legislatures.

Containing almost daily entries, the Mitchell Henderson McCuistion Diary, 1863-1866, documents his experiences during the Civil War and its aftermath. Entries discuss military operations around Atlanta in 1864, the decimation of his unit at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee and their retreat into Alabama where they surrendered. Additionally, his diary chronicles his return to Texas following the end of the war.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.